This Is A Member-Only Page Is it legal for a landlord to deny a tenant applicant because they refused to disclose their Social Security number? Personal information privacy concerns are growing daily.
Access to Social Security numbers are a particular concern because they can be used to obtain personal financial information, current address, employers, or even to commit identity fraud. Experts have advised people to guard their number and hand it out sparingly.
However government is now using Social Security numbers to track everything from skipped fathers to criminals and even requires your number's disclosure to obtain a state driver's license.
Tenant applicants who refuse to give a potential landlord their Social Security number may also find that a reason for rejection.
Neither the state landlord-tenant law or discrimination laws currently address this issue; so statutes provide no protection should a tenant decline. (Although, as of this writing, some state legislators have introduced bills that would provide some Social Security number protection.) It is now perfectly permissible for a tenant applicant to be asked to divulge their number as part of the application screening process. Information that confirms suitability as a tenant, such as credit, employment and rental histories, is a legitimate business purpose, defined under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act that is available in its entirety in our RHOL Member's Credit Web.. Thou shalt not! What is not legitimate, and is in fact illegal under federal Fair Housing Laws, would be: requesting information such as race, religion or ethnicity that has nothing to do with being a good tenant. See our pages on Fair Housing Laws in the Members Property Management Web What's legitimate? Most landlords today require applicants to pass credit and background checks. Running a credit check requires a Social Security number. An applicant can refuse to provide their Social Security number, but if they won't complete the application process, they are not likely to be accepted as a tenant. It would be like expecting to be able to buy a home, or even get a new credit card, without completely filling out the applicable application and meeting the credit granter's score requirements. Landlords must be very consistent and professional in their request for any kind of information, including tenant applicant's Social Security numbers. If they ask one applicant, they must ask every one, or face a possible discrimination charge. Additionally, landlords and property managers must respect, and protect, the privacy of any personal credit information they acquire. So, what's in the number? Social Security Numbers (SSN) carry some interesting, albeit limited information. Since we are stuck with using them for identification purposes for the foreseeable future, it might be helpful if you become acquainted with the little bits of information those digits contain. Let's look first at the full, nine digit SSN. Its three parts are normally separated by hyphens. The first three digits are the area number, the next two are the group number, and the final four numbers are the serial number. Area Number 123-45-6789 The area numbers are assigned to specific locations. Because a few locations were using up their numbers faster than anticipated, additional area numbers have been allocated in recent years so it gets a little confusing.
Until 1972, the area number indicated the location of the Social Security office that issued the SSN. This was usually, but not always, the area where the recipient lived and worked. Also, railroad workers assigned numbers before 1964 had a separate "area code" of 700 to 728 Group Number 123-45-6789 The group number in the SSN, the two-digit part in the middle, has no special geographical meaning. Instead, it is a solid indicator of how long ago a person received a SSN - if you know the sequence by which the group numbers were issued.
The group number for each area follows a particular sequence seemingly designed to discourage outsiders from even thinking about it. The group sequence begins with odd numbers 01 through 09, then goes through even numbers 01 through 98, then even numbers 02 through 08, and finally odd numbers 11 to 99.
Each state goes through all of its area numbers with group number 01 and serial number 0001-9999 before starting to use group number 03.
For instance, the first SSN issued in New Hampshire was 001-01-0001, the second 002-01-0001, the third was 003-01-0001. But the forth number issued was 001-01-0002 and the fifth was 001-01-2001. The 2000 was a special sample category explained below. * Serial number 0000 is never used. Serial Number 123-45-6789 Serial numbers are assigned to individuals on a seemingly normal first come, first served basis. However, this normal sequence is interrupted by special assignment of the 2000 and 7000 series. If the number is from 2001 to 2999 or from 7001 to 7999, the number is part of a statistical sample group. Those records are used for research into the county's changing economic and demographic conditions. One of these numbers is given at random to every fifth person to make up the sampling. There is a burgeoning "black market" for fraudulent SSN's and SSN cards, not to mention some individuals who will use another person's SSN for identification or credit checking purposes, so here are a few tips on spotting invalid SSN's: The best way to spot and control the use of fraudulent numbers is to make a copy of the tenant applicant's numbered I.D. (the card itself) Then, collect an application fee that will be used to get a credit report you can use to verify identity, credit history and the tenant applicant's ability to pay the rent.
If the applicant is a phony, or has bad credit, they will quickly find a reason to abort the application process and move on to some dumb landlord who has not read this page. Also see: Tenant Selection | Tenant Screening
Credit Reports |